Determination of trace amounts of cobalt in water by solid-phase spectrophotometry after preconcentration on a nitroso R salt chelating resin

A sensitive method for the determination of microamounts of cobalt by ion-exchanger spectrophotometry has been developed. The chromogenic agent, Nitroso-R-Salt (NRS), was loaded on an anionic-exchange resin (Amberlite CG-400). The absorbance of the NRS-cobalt complex on the chelating resin was measured at 508 nm. The best conditions for the preconcentration of cobalt on the resin before the spectrophotometric determination were a pH value of 6, temperature of 80 °C, and heating times of 45 or 90 min for 50 and 400 ml of sample, respectively. The detection limits were 27 ng/ml (50-ml samples) and 1.8 ng/ml (400-ml samples). Interference by other metals was investigated. The method is useful for determination of cobalt in natural waters.     

Numerical treatment of retarded boundary integral equations by sparse panel clustering

Stefan Sauter Institute for Mathematics, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland ^{We consider the wave equation in a boundary integral formulation.The discretization in time is done by using convolution quadraturetechniques and a Galerkin boundary element method for the spatialdiscretization. In a previous paper, we have introduced a sparseapproximation of the system matrix by cut-off, in order to reducethe storage costs. In this paper, we extend this approach byintroducing a panel clustering method to further reduce thesecosts.}     

SIMS depth profiling of ‘frozen’ samples: in search of ultimate depth resolution regime

We have performed secondary ion mass spectrometry depth profiling analysis of III–V based hetero‐structures at different target temperatures and found that both the surface segregation and surface roughness caused by ion sputtering can be radically reduced if the sample temperature is lowered to ?150 °C. The depth profiling of ‘frozen’ samples can be a good alternative to sample rotation and oxygen flooding used for ultra‐low‐energy depth profiling of compound semiconductors. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A study of the removal of selenite and selenate from aqueous solutions using a magnetic iron/manganese oxide nanomaterial and ICP-MS

Selenium (Se) is naturally occurring in the environment and is an essential nutrient in mammals. However, environmental Se can be increased to toxic levels through different industrial practices. The potential adsorption of the Se oxoanions, selenite and selenate, from aqueous solutions onto nanosynthesized MnFe₂O₄ was investigated using batch techniques and DRC-ICP-MS spectroscopy. The nanomaterial (NM) was laboratory synthesized through slow titration of a mixture of Fe²⁺ and Mn²⁺ ions. X-ray diffraction and Scherrer's equation were used to determine the phase of the material and crystallite size, respectively. The effects of pH, reaction time, competitive anions, and the adsorption capacity of the synthesized NM to bind selenite and selenate were investigated. The Langmuir isotherm was used to determine the binding capacity of the NM. Results showed that the phase of the nanomaterial was similar to Jacobsite with a size of 27.5 nm. Results also showed that the sorption of either 100 ppb of selenite or selenate was pH independent in the pH range 2 to 6 and occurred within 5 min of contact time. The introduction of Cl⁻ and NO₃⁻ anions individually added to solution had no significant effect on the sorption of either selenite or selenate. However, it was found that the addition of SO₄²⁻ had a competitive effect only on the sorption of selenate, first seen at 10 ppm and more pronounced at 100 ppm of SO₄²⁻. In the presence of 100 ppm of PO₄³⁻, the adsorption of selenate decreased to 87% while selenite sorption decreased to 20%. From the Langmuir isotherm equation it was determined that the nano-Jacobsite had a selenite and selenate binding capacity of 6573.76 and 769.23 mg Se/kg of NM, respectively.     

The psychophysics of absolute threshold and signal duration: a probabilistic approach

The absolute threshold for a tone depends on its duration; longer tones have lower thresholds. This effect has traditionally been explained in terms of "temporal integration" involving the summation of energy or perceptual information over time. An alternative probabilistic explanation of the process is formulated in terms of simple equations that predict not only the time ∕ duration dependence but also the shape of the psychometric function at absolute threshold. It also predicts a tight relationship between these two functions. Measurements made using listeners with either normal or impaired hearing show that the probabilistic equations adequately fit observed threshold-duration functions and psychometric functions. The mathematical formulation implies that absolute threshold can be construed as a two-valued function: (a) gain and (b) sensory threshold, and both parameters can be estimated from threshold-duration data. Sensorineural hearing impairment is sometimes associated with a smaller threshold ∕ duration effect and sometimes with steeper psychometric functions. The equations explain why these two effects are expected to be linked. The probabilistic approach has the potential to discriminate between hearing deficits involving gain reduction and those resulting from a raised sensory threshold.